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CONSTITUTION" 



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COiXSTITTTTIOZST 

of THE 

MAT-: <>%"■ SEW lEXIK 



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We, the people of the State of New Mexico, grateful 
to Almighty God fur the civil, political and religious liber- 
ty which He has g permitted . arid look- 
iug to Him for a bl i our endeavors to secure 
and transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding genera- 
tions. In order to form a more perfect government, es- 
tabi insure domestic tranquillity, provide for 
the common defense, promote the general welfare, and 
ure the I s of liberty to ourselves and our pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the 
te of New Mexico. 

ARTICLE L 

BOUNDARII 

The boundaries arid jurisdiction of the State shall be 
the same as the Territory ofl NVw Mexico may have at the 
time it shall be admitted into the Union under this Consti- 
tution. 



ARTICLE II. 

BILL OF RIGHTS. 

Section I. All men are by nature free and indepen- 
dent, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights ; 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
To secure these rights and the protection of property, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed. 

Sec 2. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or 
property without due process of law. 

Sec. 3. The full exercise and enjoyment of religion* 
profession and worship without discrimination shall forever 
be o-uaranteed, and no person shall be denied any civil 
or political rights, privilege or capacity on account of hit 
religious opinions ; but the liberty of conscience hereby 
secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or 
affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify prac- 
tices inconsistent with the pe^ce or safety of the state. — 
No person shall be required to attend or support any min- 
istry or place of worship against his consent, nor shall 
any preference be given by law to any religious denomi- 
nations or mode of worship. 

Sec. 4. Every person may freely speak, write and 
publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse ct 
this libertv ; and in all trials for libel, both civil and crim- 
inal, the truth, when published with good motives and 
for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense. 

Sec. 5. The right of trial by jury, as heretofore en- 
joyed, shall remain inviolate; but the trial of civil cases 
before justices of the peace by a jury of less than twelve 
men, may be authorized by law. 

Sec 6. The right of the people to be secure in their 
personsj houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable 



— 5 — 

searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no war- 
rant shall issue without probable cause, supported by af- 
fidavit, particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized. 

Sec. 7. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sure- 
ties, except for capital offenses where the proof is evident 
or the presumption great ; and the privilege of the writ 
of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in 
cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may re- 
quire it. 

Sec. 8. No person shall be held to answer for a 
criminal offense unless on indictment of a grand jury ; 
except in cases in which the punishment is by fine or im- 
prisonment otherwise th n in the denitentiary, in cases of 
impeachment, and in cases arising in the army and navy, 
or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or 
public danger. Provided, that the grand jury may be 
abolished by law in all cases.. 

Sec. 9. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall 
have the right to appear and defend in person, and by 
counsel ; to demand the nature and cause of the accusa- 
tion and to havea copy thereof ; to meet the witnesses face 
to face, and to have process to compel the attendance of 
witnesses in hiss behalf, and a speedy public trial by an 
impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense 
is alleged to have been committed. 

Sec. 10. No person shall be compelled in any crim- 
inal case to give evidence against himself, or be twice put 
in jeopardy for the same offense. 

Sec. 11. All penalties shall be proportioned to th« 
nature of the offense, and no conviction shall work cor- 
ruption of blood or forfeiture of estate, nor shall any 
pers' n be transported out of the state for any offense 
committed within the same. 



Sec. 12. No person shall be imprisoned for debt un- 
less upon refusal to deliver up his estate for the benefit of 
his creditors, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law, 
or in cases where there is strong presumption of fraud. 

Sec. 13. Private property shall not be taken or dam- 
aged for public use without just compensation ; such com- 
pensation when not made by the state shall be ascertained 
by a jury as shall be prescribed by law. The fee of land 
taken for railroad tra-ks, without consent of the owners 
thereof, shall remain in such owners subject to the use far 
which it was taken. 

Sec. 14. No ex post facto law, or law impairing the 
obligation of contracts, or making any irrevocable grant 
of special privileges or immunities shall be passed. 

Soc. 15. The military shall be in strict subordination 
to the civil power. 

Sec. 16. No soldier ehall, in time of peace, be quar- 
tered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor 
In time of war except in the manner prescribed by law. 

Sec. 17. The people have the right to assemble in a 
peaceable manner to consult for the common good, to 
m*ke known their opinions to their representatives, and 
to apply for redress of grievances. 

Sec. 18. All elections shall be free and equal. 

Sec. 11). Every person ought to find a certain remedy 
in the laws for all injuries and wrongs which ne may re- 
ceive in his person, property or reputation ; he ought to 
obtain, by law, right and justice freely, and without be- 
ing compelled to purchase it, completely and without de- 
nial, promptly and without delay. 

Sec. 20. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental 
principles of civil government is absolutely necessary ti> 
preserve the blessings of liberty. 



ARTICLE III. 

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS. 

Sec. 1. The powers of government of this state are 
divided into three distinct departments: the legislative, 
executive aud judicial, and no person or collection of per- 
sona, being one of these departments, shall exercise any 
power properly belonging to either of the others, except 
a* hereinafter expressly directed or permitted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Seo. 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a 
General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives ; both to be elected. 

ELECTIONS. 

Sec. 2. An eletcion for members of the General As- 
sembly shall be held on the first Monday in September 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-two, and every two years thereafter in each coun- 
ty, at such places therein as may be provided by law. 
When vacancies occur in either house, the governor or 
person exercising the powers of governor, shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

ELIGIBILITY AND OATH. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a senator who shall not 
have attained the age of twenty- five years, or a represen- 
tative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one 
years. Xo person shall be a senator or a representative 
who shall not be a citizen of the United States, and who 
*hail not have been five years a resident of this state, and 
for two years next preceding his election, a resident with- 



~ a— 

in the territory forming the district from which he is elec- 
ted. No judge or clerk of any court, secretary of state, 
attorney general, state's attorney, recorder, sheriff or 
collector of public revenue, member of either house of 
congress, or person holding any lucrative office under the 
United States, this state, or any forefgn government, 
shall have a seat in the General Assembly ; Provided, that 
appointments in the militia and the offices of notaries 
public and justices of the peace, shall not be considered 
lucrative ; nor shall any person holding any office of honor 
or profit under any foreign government, or under the 
government of the United States, (except postmasters 
whose annual compensation does not exceed the sum of 
three hundred dollars,) hold any office of honor or profit 
under the authority of this state. 

Sec. 4. No person who has been, or hereafter shall 
be, convicted of bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, 
nor any person who has been, or may be, a collector or 
holder of public moneys, who shall not have accounted 
for, and paid over according to law, all such moneys due 
from him, shall be eligible to the General Assembly, or 
to any office of profit or trust in this state. 

Sec. 5. Members of the General Assembly, before 
they enter upon their official duties, shall take and sub- 
scribe to the following oath or affirmation : " I do sol- 
emnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitu- 
tion of the United States and the constitution of the State 
of New Mexico, and will faithfully discharge the duties of 
senator (or representative) according to the best of my 
ability." 

APPORTIONMENT. 
SENATORIAL. 
Sec. 6, The General Assembly shall apportion the 
state every ten years, beginning with the year one thou- 



•and eight hundred and seventy-four, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law ; but in the first and succeed- 
ing General Assembly the representation in the House of 
Representatives and the Senate shall be the same that 
may be provided by law for the Territorial General As- 
sembly at the time of the adoption of this constitution. 

REPRESENTATIVE. 

If this constitution is adopted by the people of New 
Mexico, the first General Assembly elected thereafter 
shall meet in Santa Fe on the first Monday in November* 
one thousand eight hundred and seventy- two, and the 
Senate in order to complete its organization shall elect a 
president pro tempore until the lieutenant-governor shall 
be installed in his office ; and within iour days after the 
organization of the houses of the General Assembly they 
shall proceed to elect by joint ballot two senators to the 
congress of the United States. The senators thus elected 
are hereby instructed to ask of the congress of the United 
States, in the name of the people of the Territory of New 
Mexico, its admission as a state under this constitution. 

TIME OF MEETING AND GENERAL RULES. 

But afterwards the sessions of the General Assembly 
*hall commence at twelve o'clock, noon, on the first Mon- 
day of December, after the election of members thereof, 
and at no other time, unless as provided by this consti- 
tution. A majority of the members elected to each house 
fhall constitute a quorum. Each house shall determine 
the rules of its proceedings, and be the judge of the elec- 
tion returns and qualifications of its members, shall choose 
its own officers, find the senate srnil choose a temporary 
president to preside when the lieutenant-governor shall 
not attend as president, or shall act as governor. The 
2 



secretary of state shall call the House of Representatives 
to order at the opening of each new Assembly, and pre- 
side over it until a temporary presiding officer thereof 
shall have been chosen and have taken his seat. No 
member shall be expelled by either house except by u 
vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to that 
house, and no member shall be twice expelled for the 
same offense. Each house may punish by imprisonment 
any person not a member who shall be guilty of disru- 
epect to the house by disorderly or contemptuous behav- 
ior in its presence ; but no such imprisonment shall ex- 
tend beyond twenty-four hours at one time, unless such 
person shall persist in such disorderly or contemptuous 
behavior. 

The door of each house and o? committees of the whole 
shall be kept open except in such cases as in th^ opinion 
of the house require secresy. Neither house shall, with- 
out the consent of the other, adjuurn for more than two 
days, <>r to any other place than that in which the two 
houses shall be sitting. Each house shall keep a journal 
of its proceedings which shall be published. In the sen- 
ate atihe request of two members, and in the house at 
the request of five members, the yeas and nays shall be 
taken on any question, and entered -upon the journal. — 
Any two members of either house shall have liberty to 
ilissent from, and protest in respectful language against, 
any act or resolution which they think injurious to the 
public or to any individual, and have the reasons of their 
dissent entered upon the journals. . 

STYLE OF LAWS AND PASSAGE OF BILLS. 

The style of the laws of this state shall be " Be it en- 
acted by the people of the state cf New Mexico repres- 
ented in General Assembly." 

Bills may originate in either house, but may be altered, 



-11- 

amcnded or rejected by the other, and on the final pas- 
sage of all bills the vote shall be by yeas and nays, upon 
each bili seperately, and shall be entered upon the jour- 
nal ; and no bill shall become a law without the concur- 
rence of a majority of the members elected to each house. 

Every bill shall be read at large on three different days, 
in each house, and the bill, and all amendments thereto, 
shall be printed before the vote is taken on its final pas- 
sage ; and every bill having passed both houses shall be 
signed by the speakers thereof. 

No act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one 
subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. But if 
any subject shall be embraced in an act which shali not be 
expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so 
much thereof as shall not be expressed : and no law shall 
be received or amended by reference to its title only, but 
the law received or the section amended shall be inserted 
at length in the new act. 

PRIVILEGES AND DISABILITIES. 

Senators and representatives shall, in all cases except 
treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and 
in going to and returning from the same, and for any 
(speech or debate in either house they shall not be ques- 
tioned in any other place. 

No person elected to the General Assembly shall re- 
ceive any civil appointment within this state from the 
governor and senate, or from the General Assembly, du- 
ring the term for which he shall have been elected, and 
all such appointments, and all votes given for any sueli 
members for any such office or appointment shall be void, 
nor shall any member of the General Assembly be inter- 
red, eirher directly or indirectly, in any contract with 
the state, or any county thereof, authorized by any law 



-13 — 

i 
passed during the term for which he shall have been elec- 
ted, or within one year after the expiration thereof. 

PUBLIC MONEYS AND APPROPRIATIONS. 

The General Assembly shall make no appropriations 
of money out of the treasury in any private law. Bills 
making appropriations for the pay of members and officers 
of the General Assembly, and for the salaries of the offi- 
cers of the government, shall contain no provisions on any 
other subject. No money shall be drawn from the treas- 
ury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by 
law, and on the presentation of an account issued by the 
auditor thereon ; and no money shall be diverted from 
any appropriation made for any purpose, or taken from 
any fund whatever, either by joint or seperate resolution. 
The auditor shall within sixty days after the adjournment 
of each session of the General Assembly prepare and pub- 
lish a full statement of all money expended at such sea* 
fcion, specifying the amount of each item, and to whom 
and for what paid. 

The General Assembly shall never grant or authorize 
extra compensation, fee or allowance to any public officer 
agent, servant or contractor, after service has been ren- 
dered, or a contract made ; nor authorize the payment of 
any claim, or part thereof, hereafter created against the 
gtate under any agreement or contract made without ex- 
press authority of law; and all Mich unauthorized agree- 
ments or contracts shall be null anl void ; j^'ovided, the 
General Assembly may make appropriations for expendi- 
tures incurred in suppressing insurrection or repelling in- 
vasion. 

The state shall never pay, assume or become responsi- 
ble for the debts or liabilities of, or in any manner give, 
loan or extend its credit to or in aid of any public or oth- 
er corporation, association or individual. 



— 13— 

PAY OF MEMBERS. 

m 

The members of the General Assembly shall receive 
for their services the sum of three dollars per day, and 
ten cents for each mile necessarily travelled in going to 
and returning from the seat of government, to be com- 
puted by the auditor of public accounts. The pay and 
mileage allowed to each member of the General Assernblr 
shall be certified to by the speakers of their respective 
houses, and entered on the journals, and published at the 
close of each session. 

SPECIAL LEGISLATION PROHIBITED. 

The General Assembly shall not pass local or special 
laws in any of the following enumerated cases, that is to 
say : 

For granting divorces ; changing the names of persons 
or places ; laying out, opening, altering and working roads 
or highways ; vacating roads, town plots, streets and pub- 
lic grounds ; locating or changing county seats ; regulat- 
ing county and township affairs; regulating the practice 
in courts of justice ; regulating the-jurisdiction and duties 
of justices of the peace, police magistrates and constables; 
providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases ; 
incorporating cities, towns or villages, or changing or 
amending the charter of any city, town or village; sum- 
moning and empanuelling grand or petit juries ; provid- 
ing for the management of common schools ; regulating 
the interest on money ; the opening or conducting of any 
election ; or designating the place for voting; the sale or 
mortgage of real state belonging to "minors or others un- 
der disability ; chartering or licensing ferries or toll 
bridges; remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures: cre- 
ating, increasing or decreasing fees, percentage or allow- 
ance of public officers, during the term for which said 



—14— 

©fficers are elected or appointed ; changing the law of de- 
scent ? granting to any corporation, association or^ndi- 
vidual any special or exclusive privilege, immunity or 
franchise whatever ; granting to any corporation, associ- 
ation or individual the right to lay down railroad tracks, 
or amending existing charters for such purpose. 

In all other cases where a general law can be made ap- 
plicable no special law shall be enacted. 

The General Assembly shall have no power to release 
or extinguish, in whole or in part, the indebtedness, lia- 
bility or obligation of any corporation or individual to this 
state, or to any municipal corporation therein. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

The House of Representatives shall have the sole pow- 
er of impeachment, but two-thirds of all the members 
elected must concur therein. All impeachments shall be 
tried by the senate, and when sitting for that purpose, 
the senators shall be upon oaih or affirmation to do jus- 
tice according to law and evidence. When the governor 
of the state is tried, the chief justice shall preside. No 
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the senators elected, but judgment in such case* 
shall not extend further than removal from office, and 
disqualification to hold any office of honor, profit or trust 
under the government of this state. The party whether 
convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to 
prosecution, trial or judgment and punishment according 
to law. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 
The General Assembly shall provide by law that the 
fuel, stationery and printing paper furnished for the use 
of the state, the copying, printing, binding and dist 'tou- 
ting the laws and journals and all other printing ordered 



—15— 

bv the General Assembly, shall be let by contract to the 
lowest responsible bidder, but the General Assembly shall 
fix a maximum price, and no member thereof or other 
officer of the state shall be interested directly or indirect- 
ly in such contract : but all such contracts shall be sub- 
ject to the approval of the governor, and if he disapprove 
the same, there shall be a reletting of the contract in 
auch manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

The State of New Mexico shall never be made a de- 
fendant in any court of law or equity. 

The General Assembly shall have no power to author- 
ize lotteries or gift enterprises for any purpose, and shall 
pasb laws to prohibit the sale of lottery or gift-enterprise 
tickets in this state. 

No law shall be passed which shall operate to extend 
the term of any public officer after his election or appoint- 
ment. 

It sha-11 be the duty of the General Assembly to pass 
such laws as may be necessary tor the protection of oper- 
ative miners by providing for ventilation when the same 
may be required, and the construction of escapement 
shafts or such other appliances as may secure safety in all 
mines, and to provide for the enforcement of said laws by 
such penalties and punishments as may be deemed proper. 

The General Assembly may provide for establishing 
and opening roads and cartways connected with a public 
road for private and public use. 

The General Assembly may pass laws permitting the 
owners or occupants of lands to construct drains and 
ditches for agricultural, mining and sanitary purposes, 
across the lands of others. 

The General Assembly shall pass liberal homestead 
and exemption laws. 



—IB- 
ARTICLE V. 

EXEOUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 

The executive department shall consist of a Governor, 
Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Pub- 
lic Accounts, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public In- 
struction and Attorney General, who shall each, with the 
exception of the Treasurer, hold his office for the term of 
two years from the first Monday of December next after 
his election, and until his successor is elected and quali- 
fied. They shall, except the Lieutenant Governor, re- 
side at the seat of government during their term of of- 
fice, and keep the public records, books and papers there f 
and shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by 
law. 

The Treasurer shall hold his office for the term of two 
years, and until his successor is elected and qualified, and 
shall be ineligible to said office for two years next after 
the end of the term for which he was elected. He may- 
be required by the Governor to give reasonable ad- 
ditional security, and in default of so doing his office 
shall be deemed vacant. 

ELECTION. 

An election for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Trea- 
surer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Secretary of 
State, Auditor of Public Accounts and Attorney Gener- 
al, shall be held on the first Monday in September., in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy - 
two, and every two years thereafter, at such places and 
in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Ihe returns of every election for the above named offi- 
cers shall be sealed up and transmitted by the returning 
officers, to the Secretary of State, directed to the Speak- 
of the House of Representatives, who shall, immediately 



-17- 

after the organization of the house, and before proceed- 
ing to other business, open and publish the same in the 
presence of a majority of each house of the General As- 
sembly, who shall for that purpose assemble i.i the hall 
of the General Assembly. The person having the high- 
est number of votes for either of said offices shall be de- 
clared duly elected, but if two or more have an equal and 
the highest number of votes, the General Assembly shall 
by joint ballot, choose one of such persons for said office. 
Contested elections for all of said offices shall be deter- 
mined by both houses of the General Assembly by joint 
ballot, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

ELIGIBILITY. 

No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor 
or Lieutenant-Governor, who shall not have attained the 
Mge of thirty years, and been for five years next preceding 
his election a citizen of the United States, and of this 
State. Neither the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 
Auditor of Public Accounts, Secretary of State, Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction nor Attorney General 
shall be eligible to any other office during the period for 
which he shall be elected. 

GOVERNOR. 

The supreme executive power shall be vested in the 
Governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed. 

The Governor shall at the commencement of each ses- 
sion, and at the close of his term of office, give to the 
General Assembly information, by message, of the con- 
dition of the state, and shall recommend such measures 
as he shell deem expedient. He shall account to the 
General Assembly, and accompany his message with a 



—18- 

statement of all moneys received and paid out by him 
from any funds subject to his order, with vouchers, and 
at the commencement of each regular session present es- 
timates for the amount of money required to be raised by 
taxation for all purposes. 

The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, con- 
vene the General Assembly by proclamation, stating 
therein the purpose for which they are convened ; and the 
General Assembly shall enter upon no business except 
that for which they were called together. 

In case of a disagreement between the two houses with 
respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor may, 
on the same being certified to him by the house moving 
the adjournment, adjourn the General Assembly to such 
time as he thinks proper, not beyond the first day of the 
next regular session. 

The Governor shall nominate and by and with the ad- 
vice and consent of the Senate (a majority of the senators 
elected concurring by yeas and nays) appoint all officers 
whose offices are established by this constitution or which 
may be created by law, and whose appointment or elec- 
tion is not otherwise provided for; and no such officer 
shall be elected or appointed by the General Assembly. 

In case of a vacancy during the recess of the Senate in 
any office which is not elective, the Governor shall make 
a temporary appoiotment until the next meeting of 
the Senate, when he shall nominate some person to fill 
such office; and any person so nominated, who is con- 
firmed by the Senate (a majority of all the senators elect- 
ed concurring by yeas and nays,) shall hold his office 
during the remainder of the term, and until his successor 
be appointed and qualified. No person after being reject- 
ed by the Senate shall be again nominated for the same 
office at the same session, unless at the request of the 



-10- 

Senate, or be appointed to the same office during the re- 
cess of the General Assembly. 

The Governor shall have power to remove any officer 
whom he may appoint in case of incompetency or neglect 
of duty, or malfeasance in office; and he may declare his 
office vacant and fill the same as is herein provided in 
other cases of vacancy. 

The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves, 
commutations and pardons after conviction, for all offen- 
ces, subject to such regulations as may be provided by 
law relative to the manner of applying therefor. 

The Governor shall be commander in chief of the mili- 
tary and naval forces of the state (except when they shall 
be called into the service cf the United States), and may 
call out the same to execute the laws, suppress insurrec- 
tion and repel invasion. 

The Governor and all civil officers of the state shall be 
liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office. 

VETO. 

Every bill passed by the General Assembly shall, be- 
fore it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor ; if 
he approve he shall sign it, and thereupon it shall become 
a law ; but if he do not approve, he shall return it with 
his objections to the house in which it shall have originat- 
ed, which house shall enter the objections at large upon 
its journal, and proceed to reconsider the bill; if then 
two-thirds of the members elected agree to pass the same 
it shall be sent together with the objections to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two thirds of the members elected to that 
house it shall become a law notwithstanding the objec- 
tions of the Governor. But in all such cases the vote of 
each house shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be 



-SO- 
entered on the journal. Any bill which shall not be re- 
turned by the Governor within ten days (Sundays ex- 
cepted) after it shall have been presented to him, shall 
become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the General Assembly by adjournment shall prevent its 
return, in which case it shall be filed, with the objections, 
in the office of the Secretary of State within ten days af- 
ter such adjournment, or become a law. 

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. 

In case of the death, conviction or impeachment, failure 
to qualify, resignation, absence from the state, or other 
disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emol- 
uments of the office for the residue of the term, or until 
the disability shall be removed, shall devolve upon the 
Lieutenant Governor. 

The Lieutenant Governor shall be president of the 
Senate, but shall vote only when the Senate is equally 
divided. The Senate shall choose a president pro tempore 
to preside in case of the absence or impeachment of the , 
Lientenant Governor, or when he shall hold the office of 
Governor. If there be no Lieutenant Governor, or if the 
Lieutenant-Governor shall for any of the causes specified 
in section — of this Article, become incapable of per- 
forming the duties of the office, the President of the Sen- 
ate shall act as Governor until the vacancy is filled or the 
disability removed ; and if the President of the Senate, 
for the above named causes, shall become incapable of 
performing the duties of Governor, the same shall de- 
volve upon the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

OTHER STATE OFFICERS. 

If the office of Auditor of .Public Accounts, Treasurer, 
Secretary of State* Attorney General, or Superintendent 



— SI— 

of Public Instruction shall be vacated by death, resigna- 
tion or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the Governor to 
fill the same by appointment, and the appointee shall 
hold his office until his successor shall be elected and 
qualified in such manner as may be provided by law. — 
An account shall be kept by the officers of the executive 
department, and of all the public institutions of the state, 
of all moneys received and disbursed by them severally, 
from all sources, and for every service performed, and a 
semi-annual report thereof be made to the Governor un- 
der oath, and any officer who makes a false report shall 
be guilty of perjury and punished accordingly. 

The officers of the executive department and of all pub- 
lic institutions of the state shall, at least ten days preced- 
ing each regular session of the General Assembly, sever- 
ally report to the Governor, who shall transmit such re- 
ports to the General Assembly, together with the reports 
of the judges of the supreme court, of defects in the con- 
stitution and laws, and the Governor may at anytime re- 
quire information in writing, under oath, from the officers 
of the executive department and all officers and managers 
of state institutions, upon any subject relating to the con- 
dition, management and expenses of their respective 
offices. 

THE SEAL OF STATE. 

There shall be a seal of the state which shall be called 
the " Great Seal of the State of New Mexico," which 
shall be kept by the Secretary of State, and used by him 
officially as directed by law. 

FEES AND SALARIES. 

The officers named in this article shall receive for their 
services the following salaries : the governor, one thou- 
sand two hundred dollars; lieutenant ^over™- - " L 



-22- 

hundred dollars ; treasurer, one thousand dollars ; audi* 
tor of public accounts, one thousand dollars; secretary f 
state, eight hundred dollars: attorney general, six hun^ 
dred dollars, and such fees as may be prescribed by law ; 
and superintendent of public instruction, two hundred and 
fifty dollars. 

DEFINITION AND OATH OF OFFICE. 

An office is a public position, created by the constitu- 
tion or law, continuing during the pleasure of the ap- 
pointing power, or for a fixed time, with a successor 1 
elected or appointed. 

An employment is an agency for a temporary purpose 
which ceases when that purpose is accomplished. 

All civil officers, except members # of the General As- 
sembly, and such inferior officers as may be by law 
exempted, shall before they enter on the duties of their 
respective offices, take and subscribe to the following oath 
or affirmation : <4 I do solemnly swear, (or affirm, as the 
case may be), that I will support the constitution of the 
United States and the constitution of the State of New 
Mexico, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of 
the office of according the best of my ability. " 

And no other declaration or test shall be required as a 
qualification. 

SUFFRAGE. 

Every person h iving resided in this state one year, in 
the county ninety days, and in the election district thirty 
days next preceding any election therein, who was an 
elector in this State on the first day of April, in the year 
of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, or 
who has obtained a certificate of naturalization before 
any court of record in this State prior to the first day of 



-23- 

April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and seventy, or who shall be a male citizen of the 
United States above the age of twenty one years, shall be 
entitled to vote at such election. 

All votes shall be by ballot. 

Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at elections, and in goin^ to, and re- 
turning from the same. And no elector shall be obliged 
to do military duty on the days of election except in time 
of war or public danger. 

No elector shall be deemed to have lost his residence in 
this state by reason of his absence on the business of the 
United States or of this state, or in the military or naval 
service of the United States. 

Xo soldier, seaman or marine in the army or navy of 
the United States shall be deemed a resident cf this state 
in consequence of being stationed therein. 

Xo person shall be elected or appointed to any office 
in this state, civil or military, who is not a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not have resided in this 
state one year next preceding the election or appointment. 

The General Assembly shall pass laws excluding from 
the right of suffrage persons convicted of infamous crimes. 

EDUCATION. 

Section 1. The General Assembly shall provide a 
thorough and efficient system of free schools whereby alt 
the children of this state may receive a good common 
school education. 

Sec. 2. All lands, money or other property, donated, 
granted or received, for school, college, seminary or uni- 
versity purposes and the proceeds thereof, shall be faith- 
fully applied to the objects for which such gifts or grants 
were made. 



-24- 

Sec. 3. Neither the General Assembly, nor any 
county, city, town, township, school district or other pub- 
lic corporation shall ever make any appropriation, or pay 
from any public fund whatever, anything in aid of any 
church or sectarian purpose, or help, support or sustain 
any school, academy, seminary, college, university or 
other literary or scientific institution, controlled by any 
church or sectarian denomination whatever, nor shall any 
grant or donation of land, money or other personal pro- 
perty ever be made by the state or any such pubiic cor- 
poration, to any church, or for any sectarian purpose. 

Sec. 4. No teacher, state, county, township or dis- 
trict school officer shall be interested in the sale, proceeds 
or profits of any book, apparatus or furniture, used or to 
be used in any school in this state w r ith which such officer 
or teacher may be connected, under such penalties as may 
be provided by the General Assembly. 

Sec. 5. There may be a county superintendent of 
schools in each county, whose qualifications, powers, du- 
ties, compensation, and time and manner of election, and 
term of office shall be prescribed by law. 

REVENUE. 

Section 1. The General Assembly shall provide such 
revenue as may be needful by levying a tax, by valuation, 
so that every person and corporation shall pay a tax in 
proportion to the value of his, her or its property — such 
value to be ascertained by some person or persons, to be 
elected or appointed in such manner as the General As- 
sembly shall direct, and not otherwise; but the General 
Assembly shall have power to tax peddlers, auctioneers, 
orokers, hawkers, merchants, commission merchants, 
.showmen, jugglers, inn-keepers, grocery-keepers, liquor 
dealers, toll bridges, ferries, insurance, telegraph and 
express interest or business, vendors of patents, and per* 



-25- 

gons or corporations owning or using franchises and pri- 
vileges, in such manner as it shall from time to time, 
direct by general law, uniform as to the class upon which 
it operates. 

Sec. 2. The specification of the objects and subjects 
of taxation shall not deprive the General Assembly of 
the power to require other subjects or objects to be taxed 
in such manner as may be consistent with the principles 
of taxation fixed in this constitution. 

Sec. 3. The property of the state, counties and 
other municipal corporations, both real and personal, 
and such other property as may be used exclusively for 
agricultural and horticultural societies, for school, re- 
ligious, cemetery and charitable purposes, may be ex- 
empted from taxation, but such exemption shall be only 
by general law. In the assessment of real estate en- 
cumbered by public easement, any depreciation occas- 
ioned by such easement may be deducted in the valuation 
of such property. 

Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall provide in all 
cases where it may be necessary to sell real estate for the 
non-payment of taxes, or special assessments for state, 
county, municipal or other purposes, that a return of 
such unpaid taxes or assessments shall be mule to some 
general ofScer of the county having authority to receive 
state and county taxes, and there shall be no sale of the 
said property for any of the said taxes or assessments, 
but by said officer upon the order or judgment of some 
court of record. 

Sec. 5. ' The right of redemption from all sales of 
real estate, for the non-payment of taxes or special as- 
sessments of any character whatever, shall exust in favor 
of owners and persons interested in such real estite for u 
4 



-26- 

period of not less than two years from such sale3 thereof. 
And the General Assembly shall provide by law for 
reasonable notice to be given to the owners or parties 
interested, by publication or otherwise, of the fact of the 
sale of property for such taxes or assessments and when 
the time of redemption shall expire: Provided, that oc- 
cupants shall in all cases be served with personal notice 
before the time of redemption expires. 

Sec. 6. The General Assembly shall have no power 
to release or discharge any county, city., township, town 
or district whatever, or the inhabitants thereof, or the 
property therein, from their or its proportionate share of 
taxes to be levied for state purposes, nor shall commuta- 
tion for such taxes be authorized in any form whatsoever. 

Sec. 7. All taxes levied for state purposes shall be 
paid into the state treasury. 

Sec. 8. County authorities shall never assess taxes 
the aggregate of which shall exceed seventy-five cents per 
one hundred dollars valuation, except for the payment of 
indebtedness existing at the adoption of this constitution, 
unless authorized by a vote of the people of the county. 

Sec. 9. The General Assembly may vest the corpor- 
ate authorities of cities, towns and villages with power to 
make local improvements by special assessments or by 
special taxation of contiguous property or otherwise. 
For all other corporate purpose, all municipal corpora- 
tions may be vested with authority to assess and collect 
taxes ; but such taxes shall be uniform in respect to per- 
sons and property within the jurisdiction of the body im- 
posing the same. 

Sec. 10. The General Assembly shall not impose 
taxes upon municipal corporations, or the inhabitants or 
property thereof, for corporate purposes, but shall require 
that all the taxable property within the limits of munici- 



-ST- 

pal corporations shall be taxed for the piyment of debts 
contracted under authority of law, such taxes to be uni- 
form in respect to persons and property within the juris- 
diction of the body imposing the same. Private property 
shall not be liable to be taken or sold for the payment of 
the corporate debts of a municipal corporation. 

Sec. 11. No person who i3 in default as collector or 
cuetodian of money or property belonging to a municipal 
corporation, shall be eligible to any office in or under 
such corporation. The fees, salary or compensation of no 
municipal officer who is elected or appointed for a definite 
term of office ehall be increased or diminished during such 
term. 

Sec. 12. No county, city, township, school district 
or other municipal corporation shall be allowed to become 
indebted in any manner, or for any purpose, to an amount 
including existing indebtedness in the aggregate exceed- 
ing five per centum on the value of the taxable property 
therein, to be ascertained by the last assessment for state 
and county taxes, previous to the incurring of such in- 
debteiness. Any county, city, school district or other 
municipal corporation incurring any indebtedness as afore- 
said, shall before, or at the time of doing so, provide for 
the collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the 
interest on such debt as it falls due, and also to pay and 
discharge the principal thereof within twenty years from 
the time of contracting the same. 

This section shall not be construed to prevent any city, 
county, township, school district or other municipal cor- 
poration from issuing their bonds in compliance with any 
vote of the people which may have been had prior to the 
adoption of this constitution in pursuance of any law pro- 
viding therefor. 



COUNTY SEATS. 

No county seat shall be removed until the point to 
which it is proposed to be removed shall be fixed in pur- 
suance of law, and a majority of the votes of the county 
to be ascertained in such manner as shall be provided by 
general law, shall have voted in favor of its removal to 
such point ; and no person shall vote on such question 
who has not resided in the county six months, and in the 
election precinct ninety days next preceding such elec- 
tion. The question of the removal of a county seat shall 
not be oftener submitted than once in ten years to a vote 
of the people. 

CORPORATIONS. 

No corporation shall be created by special law, or its 
charter extended, changed or amended (except those for 
charitable, educational, penal or reformatory purposes,) 
which are to be and remain under the patronage and con- 
trol of the state; but the General Assembly shall provide 
by general laws for the organization of all corporations 
hereafter to be created. All existing charters or grants 
of special or exclusive privileges under which organiza- 
tion shall not have t*iken place, or which shall not have 
been in operation within ten days from the time this con- 
stitution takes effect, shall thereafter have no validity or 
effect whatever. 

The General Assembly shall provide by law, that in all 
elections for directors or managers of incorporated com- 
panies, every btockholder shall have the right to vote in 
person or by proxy for the number of shares of stock 
owned by him, for as many persons as there are directors 
or managers to be elected ; or to cumulate said shares and 
give one candidate as many votes a9 the number of direc- 
tors multiplied by the number of his shares of stock sha.l 



, or to distribute them on the same principle amon^ 
us many candidates as he shall think fit, and such direc- 
tors or managers shall not be elected in any other manner. 
No law shall be passed by the General Assembly grant- 
ing the right to construct and operate street railroad with- 
iu any city, town or incorporated village, without requir- 
ing the consent of the local authorities having the control 
of the street or highway proposed to be occupied by such 
street railroad. 

RAILROADS. 

Sec. 1. Every railroad corporation organized or do- 
ing business in this state, under the laws or authority 
thereof, shall have and maintain a public office or place 
in this state for the transaction of its business, where trans- 
fers of stock shall be made, and in which shall be kept 
for public inspection books in which shall be recorded the 
amount of capital stock subscribed, and by whom, the 
names of the owners of its stock, and the amounts owned 
by them respectively, the amount of stock paid in and by 
whom ; the transfers of said stock, the amount of its as- 
sets and liabilities, and the name and place of residence 
of its officers. The directors of every railroad corpora- 
tion shall annually make a report, under oath, to the au- 
ditor of public accounts, or some officer to be designated 
by law, of all their acts and doings, which report shall 
include such matters relating to railroads as may be pre- 
scribed by law, and the General Assembly shall pass laws 
enforcing by suitable penalties the provisions of thia sec- 
tion. 

Sec. 2. The rolling stock and all other moveable pro- 
perty belonging to any railroad company or corporation 
in this state shall be considered personal property, and 
shall be liable to execution and sale in the same manner 
as the personal property of individuals, and the General 



-30- 

Assembly shall pass no law exempting any such property 
from execution and sale. 

Sec. 3. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its 
stock, property or franchises with any other railroad cor- 
poration owning a parallel or competing line, and in no 
case shall any consolidation take place except upon pub- 
lic notice given, of at least sixty days, to all stockholders, 
in such manner as may be provided by law. A majori- 
ty of the directors of any railroad corporation now in- 
corporated, or hereafter to be incorporated by the laws of 
this state, shall be citizens and residents of this state. 

Sec. 4. Railways heretofore constructed or hereafter 
to be constructed in this state, are hereby declared public 
highways, and shall be free to all persons for the trans- 
portation of their persons and property thereon, under 
such regulations as may be prescribed by law. And the 
General Assembly shall pass such laws from time to time 
establishing reasonable maximum rates of charges for the 
transportation of passengers and freight on the different 
railroads in this state. 

Sec. 5. No railroad corporation shall issue any stock 
or bonds except for money, labor or property actually re- 
ceived and applied to the purposes for which such corpo- 
ration was created ; and all stock dividends and other fic- 
titious increase of the capital stock or indebtedness of any 
such corporation shall be void. The capital stock of no 
railroad corporation shall be increased for any purpose 
except upon giving sixty days public notice in such man- 
ner ab may be provided by law. 

Sec. 6. The exercise of the power and right of emi- 
nent domain shall never be so construed or abridged as to 
prevent the taking by the General Assembly of the pro- 
perty and franchises of incorporated companies already 
organized, and subjecting them to the public necessity the 



-31- 

same ns of individuals. The right of trial by jury shall 
be held inviolate in all trials of claims for compensation, 
when in the exercise of the said right of eminent domain 
any incorporated company bhall be interested either for or 
against the exercise of said right. 

Sec. 7. The General Assembly shall pass laws to 
correct abuses and prevent unjust discrimination and ex- 
tortion in the rates of freight and passenger tiriffjs on the 
different railroads in this state, and enforce such laws by 
adequate penalties, to the extent, if necessary for that 
purpose, of the forfeiture of their property and franchise. 

ARTICLE VI. 

MILITIA. 

The militia of the state of Xew Mexico shall consist 
of all able bodied male persons, resident in the State, 
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such 
persons as are now, or hereafter may be, exempted by 
the laws of the United States or of this State. 

The General Assembly in providing for the organiza- 
tion, equipment and discipline of the militia, shall con- 
form as nearly as practicable to the regulations for the 
government of the armies of the United States. 

All militia officers shall be commissioned bv the gov- 
ernor, and may hold their commissions for such time as 
the General Assembly may provide. 

The militia .-hall in all cases, except treason, felony or 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
attendance at musters and elections, and in going to and 

* CO 

returning from the same. 

The military records, banners and relics of the state 
shall be preserved a3 an enduring memorial of the patri- 
otism and valor of New Mexico, and it shall be the duty 



-32- 

of the General Assembly to provide by law f<. 
keeping of the same. 

No persons having conscientious scruples against bear- 
ing arms, shall be compelled to do military service in time 
of peace : provided, such person shall pay an equivalent 
for such exemption. 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Sec. 1. Whenever two thirds of the members of the 
General Assembly shall, by a vote entered upon the jour- 
nals thereof, concur that a convention is necessary to re- 
vise, alter or amend the constitution, the question shall 
be submitted to the electors at the next general election. 
If a majority voting at the election vote for a convention, 
the General Assembly shall at the next session provide for 
a convention, to consist of double the number of mem- 
bers of the senate, to be elected in the sime manner, at 
the same places and in the same districts. The General 
Assembly shall, in the act calling the convention, desig- 
nate the day, hour and place of its meeting, fix the pay 
of its members and officers, and provide for the payment 
of the|same, together with the expenses necessarily incur- 
red by the convention in the performance of its duties. 
Before proceeding the members shall take an oath to 
support the constitution of the United States and of the 
State of New Mexico, and to faithfully discharge their 
duties as members of the convention. The qualification 
of members shall be the same as that of members of the 
Senate, and vacancies occurring shall be filled in the 
manner provided for filling vacancies in the General As- 
sembly. Said convention shall meet within three months 
after such election, and prepare such revision, alteration 
or amendments of the constitution as shall be deemed 
necessary, which shall be submitted to the electors for 
their ratification or rejection at any election appointed by 



-33— 

the convention for that purpose, not less than two nor 
more than six months after the adjournment thereof, and 
unless so submitted and approved by a majority of the 
electors voting at the election, no such revision alter- 
ations or amendments shall take effect. 

Sec. 2. Amendments to the constitution may be 
proposed in either house of the General Assembly, and if 
the same sh ill be voted by two-thirds of all the members 
elected to each of the houses, such proposed amendments 
together with the yeas and nays of each house thereon 
shall be entered in full on their respective journals, and 
said amendments shall be submitted to the electors of 
this state for adoption or rejection at the next election of 
the members of the General Assembly in such a manner 
as may be prescribed by law. The proposed amend- 
ments shall be published in full at least three months pre- 
ceeding the election ; and il a majority of the electors 
voting at said election shall vote for the proposed amend- 
ments, they 'shall become a part of this constitution. 
But the General Assembly shall have no power to pro- 
pose amendments to more than one article of this con- 
stitution the same session nor the same article oftener 
than once in four yeai3. 



ARTICLE VII. 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

Section 1. The seat of Government shall be at 
Santa Fe. 

Sec 2. All officers, executive, judicial and minister- 
ial, shall, before they enter upon the discharge of their 
respective offices, take and subscribe to the following 
oath or affirmation : "I, — do solemnly swear (or 



-34- 

affirm) that I will support, protect and defend the con- 
stitution and government of the United States, and the 
constitution and government of the state of New Mexico, 
against all euemies, whether domestic or foreign, and I 
will bear true faith, allegiance and loyalty to the same, 
any ordinance, resolution or law of any state, convention 
or legislature to the contrary notwithstanding ; and furth- 
er, that I do this with the full determination, pledge and 
purpose, without any mental reservation or evasion what- 
ever. And further, that I will well and faithfully per- 
form all the duties of the office of on which I am 

about to enter," (if an oath) "so help me God/' (If an 
affirmation) "under the pains and penalties of perjury." 

Sec. 3. No perpetuities shall be allowed except for 
eleemosynary purposes. 

Sec. 4. The general election shall be held on the first 
Monday in September. 

Sec. 5. The aggregate number of members of both 
branches of the legislature shall never exceed seventy. 

Sec. 6. All county officers shall hold their offices at 
the county seats of their respective counties. 

Sec. 7. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy 
publication of all statute laws of a general nature, and 
such decisions of the supreme court as it may deem expe- 
dient ; and all laws and judicial proceedings shall be free 
fur publication by any person ; provided, that no judgment 
of the supreme court shall take effect and be operative 
until the opinion of the court in such case shall be filed 
with the clerk of said Court. 

Sec. 8. All officers whose election or appointment is 
not otherwise provided for, shall be chosen or appointed 
as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 9. The tenure of any office not herein provided 
for may be declared by law, or when not eo declared such 



—35— 

office shall be held during the pleasure of the authority 
making the appointment ; but the legislature shall not 
create any office the tenure of which shall be longer than 
four years, except as otherwise provided in this constitu- 
tion. 

Sec. 10. No plurality of votes given at any election 
by the people, shall constitute a choice where not other- 
wise provided by this constitution. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Sec. 1. The judicial power of this state shall be vest- 
ed in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts and 
in justices of the peace. The legislature may also estab- 
lish courts for municipal purposes only in incorporated 
cities and towns. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall consist of a chief 
justice and two associate justices, a majority of whom 
shall constitute a quorum ; provided, that the legislature 
by a majority of all the members elected to each branch 
thereof, may provide for the election of two additional 
associate justices, and if so increased three shall constitute 
a quorum. The concurrence of a majority of the whole 
court shall be necessary to render a decision. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall have appellate jurisdic- 
tion in all cases in equity ; also in all cases at law in 
which is involved the title or right of possession to or the 
possession of real estate or mining claims, or the legality 
of any tax, impost, assessment, toll, or municipal fine, 
or in which the demand (exclusive of interest) or the 
value of the property in controversy exceeds three hun- 
dred dollars, also in all other civil cases not included in 
the general subdivisions of law and equity, and also on 



-36- 

questions of law alone, in all criminal cases in which the 
offense charged amounts to felony. The court shall also 
have power to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohi- 
bition, quo warranto, and habeas corpus, and also all writs 
necessary or proper to the complete exercise of its appel- 
late jurisdiction. Each of the justices shall have power 
to issue writs of habeas corpus to any part of the state, 
upon petition by, or on behalf of any person held in actual 
custody, and may make such writs returnable before him- 
self or the supreme court, or before any district court in 
the state, or before any judge of said courts. 

The judges of the supreme court shall hold a term of 
the said court annually at the seat of government; and 
they shall be nominated by the governor and confirmed 
by the senate, and hold their offices for four years. 

The supreme and district courU^hall appoint their own 
clerks, and every clerk shall hold his office at the pleasure 
of the court for which he may have been appointed. 

The said state shall be divided into three judicial dis- 
tricts, and a district court shall be held in each of the 
counties of said district, by one of the justices of the su- 
preme court, at such time and places as may be prescrib- 
ed by law, and said judges shall after their appointments 
respectively reside in the district which shall be assign- 
ed them ; Provided ', that the chief justice shall reside in 
the district in which the capital may be situated. 

The counties of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Taos, Colfax, 
Mora, San Miguel and Santa Ana shall constitute the 
first judicial district; the counties of Bernalillo, Valencia 
and Socorro shall constitute the second judicial district, 
and the counties of Doila Ana, Grant, and Lincoln shall 
constitute the third judicial district, 

The justices of the supreme conrt shall receive for 
their compensation the following salaries, to be paid quar- 



-37- 

terly by the state treasurer : the chief justice of the state, 
twenty-five hud red ; and the two associate judges, fifteen 
hundred dollars each. 

Sec. 4. The district courts in the several judicial dis- 
tricts of this state shall have original jurisdiction in all 

~es in equity ; also in all cases at law which involve the 
title or right of possession to, or the possession of, real 
property or mining claims, or the legality of any tax, im- 
post, assessment, toll or municipal fine, and in all other 
cases in which the demand (exclusive of interest), or the 
value of the property in controversy exceeds one hundred 
dollars ; and of the action of forcible entry and unlawful 
detainer, and also in all criminal cases not otherwise pro- 
vided for by law. They shall also have final appellate 
jurisdiction in cases arising in probate courts, justices' 
courts, and such other inferior tribunals as may be estab- 
lished by law. The district courts # and the judges thereof 
-hall have power to issue writs of mandamus, injunction, 
quo warranto, certiorari, and all other writs proper and 
necessary to the complete exercise of their jurisdiction, 
and shall possess chancery and common law jurisdiction, 
and also shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus 
on petition by, or on behalf of, any person held in actual 
custody in their respective districts. 

Sec. 5. The times of holding the supreme courts and 
district courts shali be as fixed by law. The terms of 
the supreme court shall be held at the seat of govern- 
ment, and the terms of the district courts shall be held 
at the county seats of their respective counties. 

Sec. 6. The legislature shall determine the number 
of justices of the peace to be chosen in each city and 
township of the state, and shall fix by law their powers, 
duties and responsibilities; Provided, That such justices 
courts shall not have jurisdiction of the following cases, 



—38- 

viz : 1st. Of cases in which the matter of dispute is a 
money demand or personal property, and the amount of 
demand (exclusive of interest), or the value of the pro- 
perty, exceeds one hundred dollars. 2d. Of cases where- 
in the title to real estate or mining claims, or questions 
of boundaries to lands is or may be involved, or of cases 
that in any manner shall conflict with the jurisdiction of 
the several courts of record in this state ; And provided 
further, that justices courts shall have criminal jurisdic- 
tion as may be prescribed by law, and the legislature 
may confer upon said courts jurisdiction concurrent with 
the district courts of actions to enforce mechanics liens, 
wherein the amount (exclusive of interest) does not ex- 
ceed one hundred dollars, and also of actions for the pos- 
session of lands and tenements where the relation of land- 
lord and tenant exists, or when such possession has been 
unlawfully or fraudulently obtained or withheld. The 
legislature shall also prescribe by law the manner and 
determine the cases in which appeals maybe taken from 
justices and other courts. The supreme court, the dis- 
trict courts, and such other courts as the legislature shall 
designate, shall be courts of record. 

Sec. 7. The probate courts shall have jurisdiction in 
all cases relating to the estates of deceased persons or 
the persons and estates of minors and insane persons, and 
general jurisdiction in all probate matters, as also such 
other jurisdiction as may be conferred by law, except, 
they shall not have nor exercise any civil or criminal 
jurisdiction. 

Sec. 8. Provision shall be made by law prescribing 
the powers, duties and responsibilities of any municipal 
court that may be established in pursuance of section one 
of this article, and also fixing by law the jurisdiction of 



-39- 

said courts so a3 not to conflict with that of the several 
courts of record. 

Sec. 9. No judicial officer except justices of the 
peace and city recorders shall receive 10 his own use any 
fees or perquisites ot office. 

Sec. 10. The justices of the supreme court and dis- 
trict judges, shall be ineligible to any office other than a 
judicial office, during the term for which they shall been 
elected, and all elections or appointments of any such 
judges by the people, legislature, or otherwise, during 
said period, to any office other than judicial shall be void. 

Sfc. 11. Judges shall not charge juries in respect 
to matters of fact, but may state the testimony and de- 
clare the law. 

Sec. 12. The power of impeachment shall not extend 
to the judiciary, but for any sufficient and reasonable 
cause, to be entered on the journals of each house, which 
may or may not be sufficient grounds for impeachment, 
the chief justice and associate justices of the supreme court 
shall be removed from office on the vote of four-fifths of 
the members elected to each branch of the General As- 
sembly ; and the justice complained of shall be served 
with a copy of the complaint against him, and shall have 
an opportunity of being heard in person or by counsel in 
his defence ; provided, that no member of either branch of 
the General Assembly shall be eligible to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by such removal. 

Sec. 13. Provision shall be made by law for the re- 
moval from office of any civil officer other than those in 
this Article previously specified, for malfeasance or non- 
feasance in the performance of his duties. 



ARTICLE IX. 

SCHEDULE. 

Section 1. That no inconvenience may arise by rea- 
son of a change from a territorial to a permanent state 
government, it is declared that all rights, actions, prose- 
cutions, judgments, claims and contracts, as well of indi- 
viduals as bodies corporate, including counties, towns and 
cities, shall continue as if no change had taken place* 
and all process which may issue under the Territory of 
Xew Mexico, previous to its admission into the union as 
one of the United States, shall be as valid as if issued in 
the name of the State of Xew Mexico. 

Sec. 2. All laws of the Territory of Xew Mexico in 
force at the time of the admission of this state, not repug- 
nant to this constitution, shall remain in force until they 
expire by their own limitations, or be altered or repealed 
by the legislature. 

Sec. 3. All fines, penalties and forfeitures accruing 
to the Territory of Xew Mexico, or to the people of the 
United States in the Territory of Xew Mexico, shall en- 
sure to the State of Xew Mexico. 

Sec. 4. All recognizances heretofore taken, or which 
may be taken before the change from a territorial to a 
state government shall remain valid, and shall pass to and 
may be prosecuted in v the name of the state, and all bonds 
executed to the governor of the territory, or any other 
officer or court in his or their official capacity, or to the 
people of the United States in the Territory of New Mex- 
ico, shall pass to the governor or other officer, or court,, 
and his or their successors in office for the uses therein 
respectively expressed, and may be sued on and recovery 
had accordingly, and all property, real, personal or mix- 
cd 3 and all judgments, bonds, specialities, choscs in ac- 



-41- 

tion, claims and debts of whatsoever description, and all 
reords and public archives of the Territory of New 
Mexico, shall issue to and vest in the State of New 
.Mexico, and may be sued for and recovered in the 
same manner and to the same extent by the 
State of New Mexico, as the same could have been by 
the Territory of New Mexico. All criminal prosecutions 
and penal actions which may have arisen, or which may 
arise before the change from a territorial to a state £ov- 
eminent, and which shall then be pending, shall be pros- 
ecuted to judgment and execution in the name of the 
etate. All offenses committed against the laws of the 
Territory of New Mexico before the change from a ter- 
ritorial to a state government, and which shall not be 
prosecuted before such change, may be prosecuted in the 
name and by the authority of the State o: New Mexico, 
with like effect as though such change had not taken place, 
and all the penalties incurred shall remain the same as if 
this constitution had not been adopted. All actions at 
law and suits in equity and other legal proceedings which 
may be pending in any of the courts of the Territory of 
New Mexico at the time of the change from a territorial 
to a state government may be continued and transferred 
to and determined by any court of the state which shall 
have jurisdiction of the subject matter thereof. All ac- 
tions at law and suits in equity, and all other legal pro- 
ceedings which may be pending in any of the courts (<f 
the Territory of New Mexico at tin time of the change 
from a territorial to a state government, shall be Contin- 
ued and transferred to, end may be prosecuted to judg- 
ment and execution in any court in the state which shall 
have jurisdiction of the subject matter; and all books, pa- 
pers and records relating to the same shall be transferred 
in like manner to such courts, 



-42- 

Sec. 5. All debts and liabilities of the Territory of 
New Mexico lawfully incurred and which remain unpaid 
at the time of the admision of this state into the Union, 
phall be assumed by and become the debt of the state of 
New Mexico. 

Sec. 6. All county and territorial officers under the 
laws of the Territory of New Mexico at the time when 
the constitution shall take effect whose offices are not in- 
consistent with the provisions of this constitution shall 
continue in office until their successors shall be elected 
and qualified under the state of New Mexico. 

Sec. 7. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Sec- 
retary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, State 
Treasurer, Attorney General and Superintendent of 
Public Instruction to be elected at the first election under 
this constitution shall each qualify and enter upon the 
duties of their respective offices on the first Monday of 
December succeeding their election or as soon thereafter 
as the Territory of New Mexico may be admitted into 
the Union under this constitution. 

Sec. 8 All officers of the state and district judges 
elected or appointed under this constitution shall be com- 
missioned by the Governor of this Territory which com- 
mission shall be countersigned by the Secretary of the 
same, and shall qualify before entering upon the dis- 
charge of their duties before any officer authorized to 
administer oaths under the laws of this Territory. 

Sec. 9. In ease the office of any justice of the su- 
preme court or any u other state officer shall become 
vacant before the expiration of the regular term for 
which he was elected, the vacancy may be filled by ap- 
pointment by the Governor until it shall be supplied at 
the next general election or meeting of the General As- 
sembly, when it shall be filled by election or otherwise. 



-43- 

Sec. 10. For the first three years after the adoption 
of this constitution the legislature shall not levy a tax fur 
state purposes exceeding one per cent per annum on the 
taxable property in the state. Provided, the legislature 
may levy a tax not exceeding one-fourth of one per cent 
per annum which shall be appropriated to the indebted- 
ness of the Territory of New Mexico assumed by the 
State of New Mexico, and for that purpose only until all 
aforesaid indebtedness is pail. 

Done by the Representatives of the people of 
New Mexico in regular legislative session at 
Santa Fe, this the first day of February 
A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sev- 
enty two. 
(Signed) DIEGO ARCHULETA, 

President of the Council. 
(Signed) GREGORIO N. OTERO, 

Spca leer of the House of Pep rcsen ta t i ves . 



In pursuance of a resolution of the Legislative Assem- 
bly of New Mexico, of this date, requesting the Governor 
to sign this constitution, I do hereby approve and sign 
the same this 1st day of February, 1872. 

MARSH GIDDINGS, 
Governor of Neiv Mexico. 



-45- 



AX ACT 

PROVIDING FOR A GENERAL ELECTION FOR 
THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO A VOTE 
OF THE PEOPLE A STATE CONSTITUTION 

AND STATE OFFICERS. 

Whereas, we the members of the Legislative Assembly 
of the Territory of New Mexico, as the representatives of 
the people after due deliberation, believing it for the bene- 
fit of the people to change the form of their government 
to that of a state, have drawn up a constitution republi- 
can in form, and in which are incorporated the fundamen- 
tal principles of a free and sovereign government, which 
we have resolved to submit to the consideration of the 
people, being satisfied that a majority thereof desire a 
state government ; therefore. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Ter- 
ritory of Xew Mexico. 

Sec. 1. That his Excellency, the Governor of this 
Territory, is hereby required, sixty days before the first 
Monday of Ju 1872, to issue his proclamation for a 
genera i h shall beheld said first Monday 

of June, 1 be piirpos a vote of 

the p : esent 

term 

Se cbate 

in tin sceive 

the s r pro- 

claim - latins: 



-46- 

fche time and place of said election, as also the object of 
the same as set forth in the proclamation of the Gover- 
nor. 

Sec. 3. Said election bhall be conducted and held in 
every respect according to the laws in force with refer- 
ence to elections in this territory, and the qualifications of 
voters shall be the same ; except that the returns shall be 
made to the Governor of the Territory who, in the pres- 
ence of the Attorney General and Treasurer, shall count 
the votes and announce the result. 

Sec. 4. Said election shall be for the sole purpose of 
determining whether the people of this Territory are in 
favor of the constitution and a state government, and for 
that purpose the ballots and votes cast shall be — 

"For the Constitution and a State." 

"Against the Constitution and a State." 

Sec. 5. If a majority of the votes cast be in favor of 
the constitution and a state, the Governor is hereby re- 
quired to issue his proclamation on the second Monday of 
June, 1872, announcing the result of said election, and 
ordering another election which shall be held on the first 
Monday of September, 1872, for the object of electing 
under said constitution a Governor, Lieutenant Governoi , 
Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney Gene- 
ral, Superintendent of Public Instruction, as also mem- 
bers of the Legislative Assembly to hold a session of the 
General Assembly of the state at the time provided for 
by the coustitution ; and also for a representative in the 
Congress of the United States ; said election shall be held 
according to the laws of the Territory, except that the 
counting of the votes shall be in the same manner as pro- 
vided by section three of this act, which shall be taken as 
the true count, and the said votes shall not be again there- 
after counted. 



-47- 

Sec. 6. That the Governor is hereby required to have 
printed one thousand copies of the said state constitution, 
three hundred in English and seven hundred in Spanish, 
and to send them pro rata to the respective judges of this 
Territory, as also three copies to each one of the mem- 
bers of the present Legislative Assembly. The expenses 
of the said election and printing to be paid out of the Ter- 
ritorial treasury. 

Sec. 7. This act shall take effect from and after its 
passage. 

Approved, Feb. 1st. 1872. 

MARSH GIDDINGS, 
Gvverm 






CO^STITTTTIOjST 

O^ 1 THE 

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